This invention relates to apparatus for use in installing modular type multi-contact electrical connectors on groups of wires such as wire bundles contained in a multi-conductor cable. The apparatus is herein disclosed in conjunction with a pedestal of the type used in the telephone industry as a housing for an above-ground splice between sections of buried telephone cable, however, it will be apparent that the apparatus can be used under other circumstances; for example, for splicing electrical cables in a manhole and for splicing elevated cables.
Application Ser. No. 707,981 discloses and claims an apparatus for inserting wires into the terminals in a modular type connector which has a roller, or alternatively a sliding member, which moves relatively over the surface of a connector positioned in the apparatus and during such movement it trims wires positioned transversely across the connector and inserts the trimmed wires into the wire receiving portions of terminals in the connector. The principles of the invention described in Application Ser. No. 707,981 are sound and the specific apparatus shown therein has been tested with favorable results. It has become apparent, however, that it would be desirable to provide an insertion and assembling apparatus having the advantages of the apparatus disclosed in the above identified application which would be more compact than my previous apparatus. The instant invention is specifically directed to the achievement of this end and additionally to the achievement of an apparatus which can be used under a wide variety of working conditions.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for assembling the parts of a modular electrical connector and/or inserting wires into the wire receiving portions of terminals in a modular electrical connector. A further object is to provide an apparatus which is relatively compact and which can be used under a wide variety of working conditions. A further object is to provide an apparatus having an improved force multiply means which can be manually operated without undue fatigue on the part of the operator. A further object is to provide an apparatus which can be used for trimming wires and inserting the trimmed wires into terminals of a modular electrical connector and which can also be used for assembling the parts of a modular electrical connector to each other by pressing them together. A further object is to provide an apparatus of robust and durable construction which is at the same time relatively simple and which can be operated by a technician without an extended period of training.